New Beginnings
by Alisvolatpropiisxx
Summary: A Sakura with a life similar to her teammates. How would the events, and people's lives change? This is a Sakura with a new beginning.
1. Love Ones Seperated

_(8 years ago)_

"Mom, why must we leave Sunagakure and move to Kumogakure?" A pink-haired girl asked, tugged on her mother's arm sleeve.

The older lady smiled down at her daughter, "It's where Mommy and Daddy were born honey."

"Hana, are you almost done with that room?" A booming voice echoed down the hallway of their home.

"Yes, almost done Arashi." The older lady wiped a bead of sweat trickling down her forehead. She turned towards her daughter, her red hair swaying with the movement.

"Why don't you go say goodbye to your friends sweetie? We won't have anytime after this, and we're leaving as soon as we finish packing. Just make sure you come back before the sun sets, okay Sakura?"

Sakura nodded happily, and skipped out the room. She ran to her room, which was going to be packed last and took her backpack with two gifts she had chosen for her two closest friends.

Skipping happily out of her house, she rushed towards the playground to meet one of her friends; they had picked that place to meet just yesterday.

"Aya-Chan!" Sakura shouted. She ran towards her blonde-haired, blue-eyed friend. "I have to tell you something Aya-Chan!"

Her friend giggled, "I heard, you have to leave." Aya pouted cutely. "Who am I going to play with now?"

Sakura laughed, "Your moving to Konoha anyways!"

"Yeah, but your moving a day before me Sakura-Chan, big difference! And after, how will we see each other?" Aya frowned.

"We'll find a way Aya-Chan. But, I brought you a gift!"

"I got you something too!"

They both took the packs on their backs off and took out boxes for each other.

Sakura gave her gift to Aya first.

"It's a new art set that my mom let me pick out for you! Last week you said you were running out of your paints so I got you new ones. I hope you like it! I also got you this bunny and bracelet!" Sakura smiled sweetly at her friend who hugged her tightly.

"Thanks Sakura-Chan!" Aya took Sakura's presents and placed them inside her bag. "These are for you!" She handed the pinkette a cherry blossom clip, a painting of the two under cherry blossom trees, and a cherry blossom shaped locket."

"Wow .. That's so pretty.. " Sakura stared at the paining in awe, which caused her friend's face to turn abit red.

They both sat down in the deserted playground, admiring each others gifts.

"Can you help me put this on Aya-Chan?" Sakura asked, holding up the necklace.

Aya nodded happily, "Only if you put on this bracelet for me!"

They helped each other put on the jewellery pieces and sat back down.

"I'm going to miss you Aya-Chan." Sakura said sadly.

"Me too Sakura-Chan." They hugged each other tightly and sighed.

"I have to go." Sakura said, frowning. As much as she wanted to stay with her friend, she still had one more person to see. "Pinky promise to write? We'll be best friends forever!"

Aya nodded, "Forever!" They locked their pinkies together and shook it.

Sakura ran down the road and turned the corner. She spotted her friend who was walking alittle bit ahead of her. His red hair standing out around all the sand colors of their village.

"Gaara-kun!"

He stopped and turned around, his blank face crumbling away at the sight of the one person who accepted him for who he was.

"Sakura-Chan?"

She caught up to him and grinned. "Ah, I got you! I have to leave today so I wanted to give my gift now." She beamed up at his surprised face.

"You got me a gift?" He asked slowly.

"Of course I did! You're my friend and I don't want you to forget about me!" She pulled her backpack off her back once more and rummaged through it.

"Here you go!" She handed him a bunny, a photo of the two of them, and a stack of thin square papers. The papers had a picture of a building much like the houses in their village with cherry blossoms scattered around, as if the wind were blowing them away.

"My dad helped me with these! You can use them on anything, even your clothing!" She showed him the corner of her shirt which held the same symbol. "I got you a bunch! But, you really only need one because they'll never stop being sticky."

Gaara took the gifts slowly. "No one's gotten me a gift before." He looked at her smiling softly. "Thank you Sakura-Chan." He took one of the papers and peeled off the picture, placing it on his sand gourd.

"We'll see each other again okay?" She smiled when he nodded at her slowly. "Just never forget me okay?" Sakura smiled sadly at Gaara who's face showed no emotion.

She turned around and ran in the direction of her house.

Gaara stared at the spot she had disappeared from. "Sakura-Chan.."

( 1 month later )

Sakura sobbed in her father's friends arms. A couple minutes earlier she had learned that her parents were killed while going out to a village to help with the war.

"Why .." She cried.

The man holding her stroked her hair gently.

"It's alright Sakura, everything will be okay."

Hours later, she fell asleep in his arms, dried tears staining her cheeks. When she woke, she found that she couldn't cry anymore. Even when she found out that her friend Aya had been killed, being caught in the war. She was informed when a letter came from the people currently residing in her friend's home. She didn't cry, but only clutched the locket around her neck tightly. Inside of it, held two photos; one of her and Gaara, and one of her and Aya.

"Sora-san, what will I do now?" Sakura turned to stare at the man sitting at the end of the bed.

Sora smiled softly at her and took out a piece of paper. "You're parents wanted you to move to Konoha, should anything happen. Unfortunately, the one you were to live with has left that place already, so for the time being you'll have to live alone."

He handed her a photo of her parents and her in their old home, a week before they ended up moving. She traced the curves of her mother's faces, the corners of her mouth, twitching upwards.

"I'll go pack now and leave tomorrow then." Sakura nodded to herself, leaving the room to gather her things.

XXXXXX

Sakura woke up to screams the next day, she scrambled off her bed and looked out the window. The war had now travelled to this village, destroying the whole place. The buildings were in ruins, being burned down.

She ran down the stairs of her father's friends home and was startled. Sora was fighting with someone, blood trickled down his arms. The clashing of metal echoed around the home.

Ninjas came forward, to every houses there were, making no time to escape. Her home was one of the last to be intact.

She hid in a small hole that had been burned through the wall. Too small for any adult to reach her, and watched horrified as Sora fought a losing battle.

"Get out of here Sakura! There's no time!" Sora's voice broke through her blank mind. She couldn't think, she could just stare at the scene before her.

As those words slipped through his mouth, the two who were fighting pierced each other at the same time in the spot left defenceless, which was the heart. Their weapons clattered on the ground, their bodies collapsing onto the floor.

Sakura just watched, her mind running a mile a minute. She scrambled out of her hiding place and grabbed her pack.

Being small, it was easy for her to hide, the ninjas not bothering with her, thinking she was dying with the small chakra coming from her body. She was able to escape, but on the way the deaths embedded in her mind travelled with her.


	2. Distancing Yourself But Getting Closer

( 4 Years Later)

Sakura Haruno got up today, her first day as a ninja.

She had been living alone the whole time, everyone she was related to had left after the Kyuubi attack or had been killed. She read the things she could find in the library, and practiced taijutsu on her own time.

She joined the ninja academy, and didn't talk a lot. Only talking when she needed to, which was mostly only to two girls named Hinata and Ino. Hinata didn't pry into her life, and didn't talk much but she tried to spend as little time as possible with Ino. That girl talked a lot, and because Sakura was friendly, Ino took to trying to hang out with her. She didn't want anyone to know of her past, and always declined to hang out after school. Though, that never stopped Ino from chattering away to her at school when they sat beside each other, at which Sakura would just nod her head.

_**'We'll become strong and then you can make a bunch of friends!'** 'Yeah, but only when I become strong can I get close to anyone..' _

She put on her forehead protector as a headband, and let her bangs frame her face. She wore a red, v-neck t-shirt that had a white line going down the middle. She wore black spandex shorts that covered her thighs. They had white lining on the bottom and on her sides. On the bottom of her sides, connected with the white lines were circles. The back of her shirt also had a white circle. She wore back, fingerless gloves and ninja sandals that reached the middle of her calves. She still had the cherry blossom necklace on, since she wasn't going to be training until the afternoon. She put on her pouch, that held some weapons and headed out.

This was her first day as a ninja, the day after the genin exams. She had passed easily, and was walking towards the academy to receive her team.

A shout broke her concentration.

"Hey you! Look at me, I'm a ninja! Believe it!" A boy with brighter blonde hair then Aya came running towards her, pointing at his headband, that showed he was a ninja of the village.

Sakura smiled, "That's nice." She nodded her head at him and turned to walk away.

"Hey, why aren't you glaring at me?" His voice made her stop once again.

She turned back to him and saw his face mirroring hers in confusion. "Why would I be? Do I know you?"

"You.. You don't think I'm a monster?" He was grinning at her hugely.

"No.." _'Why would you be a monster?' _

"That's great! Now if I become Hokage, everyone will feel the way you do!" He pumped his fist in the air.

She smiled and waved her hand at him. "I have to go now. Just don't let what people think of you get to your head okay? Things get easier if you believe in yourself." She turned around and kept walking.

"I will!" He hollered at her, and dashed past her quickly.

XXXXXX

Sakura entered the classroom to see about half the class already there. She walked on the side of the class, surveying everyone in the room.

She sat down next to Sasuke Uchiha, choosing him since she saw he wasn't the talkative type.

'Che, annoying. Another girl to cling onto me.'

__Sasuke thought.__

But, being Sakura, she basically ignored him staring at the front of the room her face cradled in her palm.

She wasn't the type to have crushes, only knowing friendship and her parent's love for one another. Though she was knowledgeable, she was completely clueless to those types of things. And so, she never had a crush on him, not wanting to be close to anyone.

A random girl shouted across the room, "She took the seat next to Sasuke-kun! It's first come, first serve!"

Sakura however, didn't know that the girls were all yelling at her, taking the commotion for excitement to be a ninja.

"HEEEEY!" The blonde boy she saw earlier that day stood right next to her grinning.

She flinched startled and ended up bonking her head on Sasuke's head.

"Ow.." Sakura rubbed her head. She turned to Sasuke worried. "Are you alright, sorry."

Sasuke, trying to resist rubbing his head to ease the pain stared at her. "Hn." _'At least I know she would rather hurt me then hug me. It's about time someone stopped sucking up to me all day.'_

Sakura turned back to the blonde boy. "Hello." _'Great .. He thinks we're friends, it doesn't matter, as long as I'm not on his team I won't have to talk to him.'_

"This is great! We can be on the same team together and everything! Wouldn't that be great, huh?"

Sakura tried to think of something to say but Sasuke cut in. "Who would want to be on the same team as you dobe?"

"What did you say?" He glared at the boy sitting next to Sakura.

"Hn, does being a dobe affect your hearing?" Sasuke answered, looking at him blankly.

He huffed and looked back at Sakura. "Don't mind that teme! I'm Naruto by the way, Naruto Uzumaki! Believe it!"

Sakura smiled at him, "I'm Sakura Haruno."

"Sakura-chan, I want to be on the same team as you!"

"I guess.. " Sakura answered unsurely. _'I don't want to be near anyone I know. They'll just get hurt like everyone else .'_

"Don't you get it dobe, no one wants to be on the same team as _you_." Sasuke said rudely.

Naruto sat on the desk part in front of Sasuke and held a glaring contest with him.

Ino yelled from across the classroom. "Naruto! Stop staring at Sasuke-kun."

"Humph, everything is always about Sasuke. What's so great about him anyways?" Naruto muttered to himself.

Ino, who got even more angry yelled again. "Sasuke-kun! Just beat him up already."

A girl, who was a fan girl screamed, "YEAH!"

A boy then, bumped into Naruto's back as he talked to his friend. "What, for real?"

Naruto then fell forward, locking their lips in a kiss.

The two pulled away from each other, glaring and spitting repeatedly.

Sakura then smiled, again being clueless about relationships, and not seeing that they clearly disliked one another. "Wow.. I never knew you two were together! That's so sweet!" _**'I thought you said people got together around their late teens, like our parents?'** 'Late bloomers I guess?' _

The girls in that class were shocked and some ended up fainting. Sakura heard someone say, "Troublesome. "

The two stared at Sakura.

"No, no! That was an accident Sakura-chan! An accident!" Naruto cried.

Sasuke seconded that with a "Hn."

Sakura tilted her head abit. "Then why would you kiss?"

Naruto pointed to the boy who sat in front of Sasuke. "He pushed me! I'm not with Sasuke, Sakura-Chan ! Believe it!"

"So your not together?" Sakura asked confusedly.

"Hn. No one would want to be with that dobe." Sasuke said, getting over the scene that just happened.

Naruto looked at the classroom and cowered in fear. The girls except for Sakura were all glaring and cracking their knuckles.

"Naruto..."

Naruto waved his hands in front of him. "I-it was an accident! An accident!"

They glared, "You. Are. Toast."

Sakura cut in, "Ah, it's not Naruto's fault. You see now that they kissed... um .. yeah! That's right! Sasuke has more experience for who he's going to be with forever!" Sakura said nodding, "Yeah, that's right."

Sasuke and Naruto stared at her in shock. "What! NO !"

The girls however didn't hear, getting over their anger and becoming smitten once again with Sasuke. "C'mon Sasuke, I have the experience to be with you."

"Hn."

Iruka, their sensei came in and settled everyone down.

"Starting today, you are all official ninjas, but... You are all still new Genin. It's going to get harder from here. You all will be in a group of three, where you will accomplish missions under a Jounin teacher."

'A group of three? I hope I'm not with those two boys or Ino or Hinata.'

Sakura thought, pursing her lips.

'If it's going to be a group of three, I'd rather have the girl be Sakura. Hn, at least it doesn't look like she's a fan girl.'

'First, Sakura-chan, then the other will be... I can live with anyone else as long as it's not Sasuke-

teme.'

Naruto thought to himself.

Iruka continued on to announce the teams. "Next, 7th group. Uzumaki Naruto."

This caught Naruto's attention, "Oh?"

"Haruno Sakura."

"Yeah!" Naruto pumped his fist in the air.

_'I'm with Naruto...?'_ Sakura frowned.

"And Uchiha Sasuke."

Sakura let her face fall onto the desk._' Darn.. I'm with the both of them. Okay, as long as I keep my distance it'll be okay!'_

"I'm with Sasuke...?" Naruto muttered to himself.

"Next, 8th group. Hyuuga Hinata. Inuzuka Kiba. Aburame Shino."

"Why does she get to be with him!" Ino asked, frustrated.

"Next, 9th group."

Sakura turned around to face them. "I'm sorry Ino, I hope your not mad at me."

Ino waved her hand, "It's not your fault. It's sensei's fault!"

Shikamaru lifted his head up from the desk. "Why do girls like such a guy anyway?"

Ino answered for him, "Don't you even know that, Shikamaru?"

"I'm not a girl." He replied.

"That's why your not popular. I wouldn't want to team up with a guy like you."

Sakura frowned, "Why not? He's very smart isn't he? Shikamaru seems like a nice guy."

The corner of his lips lifted abit, "Thanks Sakura but don't bother. No one will ever be good enough except for _Sasuke-kun_."

"10th group. Yamanaka Ino. Nara Shikamaru."

"No!" Ino shouted.

Shikamaru smirked, "Looks like you have to team up with me."

"And… Akimichi Chouji. Alright, that's it for the groups."

Naruto stood on top of the desk, "Iruka-sensei! Why is a top-student like me in a group with this guy?"

Iruka sighed, "Sasuke graduated with the highest scores. And you, Naruto, had the worst scores. This happens because we want to evenly divide the abilities between the groups."

Sasuke turned towards Naruto. "Don't pull my leg blockhead."

"What did you say?"

"You want to fight blockhead?"

"Blockhead? Why you.."

Sakura stood between them, and pushed Naruto back into his chair. "There's no reason to fight you guys.."

Iruka clapped his hands together. "I'm going to introduce the Jounin teachers in the afternoon. Meeting adjourned until then!"


	3. Bell Test

Well, if you didn't know this yet:

_'thoughts'_

"talking"

**_'inner sakura'_**

* * *

><p>"He's late!" Naruto yelled.<p>

"Naruto please sit still and wait." Sakura tried to reason with him.

"But we've waited and waited and waited! Why is our teacher the only one late? All the other groups went somewhere with their teachers already, even Iruka-sensei went home!"

"It's fine Naruto, just wait a little bit longer."

Sakura watched as Naruto put a chalk brush and wedged it in the door.

"This is for making us wait so long!"

'_Oh no.. I don't want our teacher to hate us!' __**' Take a kunai out and knock it out of the way before it hits him!' **__'Ok.'_

Sakura took a kunai out of her pouch and held it on the side where her team mates couldn't see it. **'Get ready! I can sense him!' **

The door opened and Sakura threw it swiftly, knocking the brush away from their sensei's head.

"Heh, nice." Sakura sighed in relief.

"Sakura-chan! Why'd you do that!"

Sasuke watched her silently. _'That was really precise, I wonder where she learned that.' _

Sakura stared at her sensei and beamed. "Kakashi-san! I mean Kakashi-sensei! That's great I knocked that out of the way before it hit you! And I never thanked you before either!"

He had helped her with the arrangements when she had gotten to Konoha, enrolling her in the academy and helping her move the things in.

"Ah, Sakura. That's nice to see a familiar face. I was going to say my first impression is that I don't like you, but now, I hate you two." He looked at the two boys who were glaring at him.

"Sakura-chan! How do you know him?"

Sakura scratched her head. _'Great, how do I tell them without them knowing I have no parents. Even Kakashi-sensei doesn't know. He just thought my parents were on a mission.' _"He just helped me settle here in Konoha."

"Alright, meet me on the roof." Kakashi turned around and disappeared in a cloud of dust.

Naruto turned to Sasuke. "I bet I'm faster than you!"

"Hn, bring it on dobe."

They both started running out the room with Sakura trailing behind.

XXXXXX

Sakura sat in the middle of them, after breaking up their fight.

Kakashi stood in front of them, surveying them. "Let's see, why don't you introduce yourselves. What you like, hate, dreams, and hobbies. Something like that."

"Could you go first, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked curiously.

"Me? I'm Hatake Kakashi. I have no intention of telling you my likes and dislikes. As for my dreams, I don't have anything in particular and I have a few hobbies to take up my time."

Sakura stared at him, furrowing her eyebrows. "So .. All we learnt was your name huh?"

Kakashi nodded at Naruto. "You first."

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto. I like cup ramen. But I like ramen at Ichiraku that Iruka-sensei bought for me even more. I hate the three minutes that I have to wait after I put in the hot water. I like Sakura- chan and I hate Sasuke-teme. My hobby is to eat and compare cup ramens! And my dream is to become grater than the Hokage! I'm going to make the villages recognize my existence! Believe it!"

Sakura smiled when she heard he liked her, but didn't say anything back. _'If I don't say I like him, we don't have to be friends.' _

'_He's grown up in an interesting way.' _Kakashi thought. He then pointed to Sasuke.

"Hn. My name is Uchiha Sasuke. There are many things that I hate, and there aren't a lot of things that I like. Also, I have an ambition that I have no intention to leave as just a dream. The revival of my clan, and to … kill a certain man."

Kakashi watched him, '_Interesting. Just as I thought. The Hokage mentioned me having to help him with his Sharingan. '_

Naruto shivered, "I hope he wasn't talking about me.."

Sakura turned towards Sasuke. "Hey .. If your going to revive your clan, you have to marry a girl right? Isn't that the way it works? So do you like love a girl in our class? I saw that Ino really likes you."

Sasuke, caught off guard flushed. _'Damn, reviving my clan, what was I thinking saying that.' _"Yes, I'm going to revive my clan and no, Ino would be my very last choice."

Sakura frowned, "Oh do you love someone already?" She leaned forward, "Oh, I know! It's cause your with Naruto right? Yeah, my parents used to kiss so I thought that when you guys kissed and denied it was a little deceiving." She turned to Naruto who started choking when she mentioned him. "Good luck Naruto!"

"Wah! Sakura-chan! We're not together.!"

Sakura pursed her lips. "Well if he's going to revive his clan you have to be with someone right? Well, that's what my mom talked to me about when I was a kid. To revive a clan, all you need is someone to love."

'_Hmm, I can't tell if she's doing this out of curiosity, to mock him, or trying to make him choose her to revive the clan. It doesn't look like she's interested in him though.' _

Sasuke who was slowly getting uncomfortable tried to get out of the situation. "Well, no I haven't chosen anyone yet. Maybe when I'm older…"

Sakura nodded, "Yeah, okay."

Kakashi pointed to her, "Alright enough chit chat, go Sakura."

"Right, I'm Haruno Sakura. I don't like when others put others down." _'Or wars, blood, killing for no reason. Loved one leaving me…' _"A hobby? I guess training? And studying things. And my dream is to become a strong kunoichi, so that I'll never lo-" She stopped stiffly. _**'Too much detail Sakura!' **__'Yeah, I know.' _"Yeah, I want to become strong for my own personal reasons."

'_Hmm, that's interesting. The way she stopped her sentences. I would've thought that these girls in the academy would be into boys more than training.' _Kakashi watched her as she fidgeted with her shirt. _'Come to think of it, I don't know anything of her past. Not even the Hokage told me.' _

"Alright, you three all have unique personalities. I like that. Tomorrow, we're going to begin a mission."

Naruto jumped to his feet excitedly. "What kind of mission is that, sir?"

"First, we're going to do something with all four of us."

"What is it! What is it?" Naruto shouted at him.

"Survival training."

"How is it a mission if it's training?" Sakura inquired.

"This isn't ordinary training. Our of the 27 graduates, only nine are going to become Genins. The other 18 will be sent back to the academy. In other words, this training is going to be a very hard test with a drop rate of 66%."

"No way! I went through so much trouble… then what was the final exam for?" Naruto asked.

"That just picks who are qualified to become Genin. Anyway, I'm going to determine where her you pass or fail tomorrow at the training ground. Bring your ninja equipment and at 5 A.M.! Oh yeah, don't eat breakfast, you're going to throw up if you do."

XXXXXX

The next day Sakura woke up at 4 in the morning. She had slept earlier than normal, so that she wouldn't be tired today. _'I need proper energy if we're going to be doing survival things.'_ However, she still ate a light breakfast of fruits. " He's always late so it'll be digested by then, and no way is he going to hurt us or anything. We just graduated so we have no real fighting skills." Sakura also forgot that you were to be there by 5 but ended up getting there at 6.

Naruto was slumped against the side of the bridge. "Sakura-chan your late."

"Ehe, yeah, sorry lost track of time." She looked around. "Doesn't look like he'll be here anytime soon."

"How can you be so awake?" Naruto asked drowsily, rubbing his eyes.

"I went to sleep early, to have my maximum energy, and woke up early to eat a small breakfast."

Sasuke who was watching silently cut in. "Hn, he said you'd puke it out."

"Yeah, but I ate a light one, and it's been a little while. I'll have digested it if he comes extremely late which he already is so I won't puke it out but I'll still have energy. I mean come on, we have no skills or experience what so ever. He won't use all his skills on us, cause he knows that."

Naruto stared at her wide-eyed, "Wow Sakura-chan, your really smart!"

"I guess." _'Damn, I said I wasn't going to be friends. Stop talking!' _She turned stiffly and faced the other side of the bridge, ignoring them. This surprised the both of them, though it only showed on Naruto's face.

'_Hn, what's up with her.' _

'_Sakura-chan…'_

They stood like that for two more hours, awaiting their sensei's arrival.

At 8' o clock he arrived, and ended up getting an earful from Naruto.

"You're late!" Naruto yelled.

"A black cat crossed my path, so… anyways let's move on." He took out a stop clock and hit the start button. "The alarm is set for 12' o clock. You are to get one of these bell from me. Whoever can't won't have any lunch.

Sakura pointed at his hands, "There are only two bells…"

Kakashi nodded, "Since there's only two, at least one will have to be tied to the log. That person will fail since he failed to complete the mission. The person will go back to the academy. It might just be one, or all three. You can use your weapons against me. " He jingled the pair of bells. "You won't be able to get these unless you have the will to kill me."

Sakura stared at him. _'It's kind of obvious that he's lying. Well, to me at least.' _She was always able to tell if someone was lying to her even if someone like her sensei was very skilled at it. _'There's got to be another way that'll allow all of us to pass.'_

Naruto and Sasuke stared at him. You could see the gears in their brains working themselves, trying to figure out a way to get a bell.

Naruto whipped out a blade and charged at Kakashi. Their sensei appeared behind him, pulling the blade around so it lay against Naruto's head.

"Don't get so hasty, I didn't say "start" yet."

'_Wow he's really quick.' _Sakura thought.

"So this is a Jounin." Sasuke muttered to himself.

Kakashi's only visible eye shut, to show that he was smiling. "But, it looks like you have the will to kill me now. I think I can finally start liking you three. We're going to start… Ready, GO!"

All three of them leaped away, and Kakashi disappeared to reappear in the middle of a clearing.

"A basic for a ninja is to conceal his presence and hide. Good, everyone is hidden nicely…" Kakashi looked up and saw Naruto grinning up at him.

"You and me right now!"

Kakashi cringed, "Aren't you a little weird compared to the rest?"

"The only thing weird here is your hairstyle!"

"Alright, Taijutsu, I'll teach you that one first." Kakashi reached into his pouch and whipped out a book with the title Flirting Paradise.

"Wah!" Naruto looked confusedly at him.

"What's the matter? Come and get me."

"Alright but it's your funeral sensei!"

Naruto created 7 shadow clones and charged at him. Kakashi destroyed them all, and appeared behind Naruto crouching.

"Hidden village of Konoha's secret taijutsu master art! One Thousand Years of Pain!" Kakashi shoved his fingers on Naruto's arse, and Naruto landed into the lake.

'_Hmm, there's no way we could beat him. He's not even trying and Naruto got beaten. Especially with only two bells it get's even more competitive.. that's it! Oh.. Why didn't I see it before!' _

Sakura went searching for her two team mates and untied Naruto from the rope that he was hanging from, and helped Sasuke out of the ground, where his head was above to allow him to breathe.

She faced both of them, who were glaring at each other. "We need to work together. Remember, we have to look underneath the underneath. The two bells are there to distract us. It's obvious, he's not taking us seriously, so it tells you that the bells aren't the main goal."

"I don't know about you but _I've_ already touched the bells. This isn't about teamwork at all. Listen to what _he _said, Sakura. You guys will just drag me down." Sasuke walked away from them.

"C'mon Sasuke! If we fail you guys can just blame it on me or something it's fine. I just really sure that this will work!"

"Hn. Fine. But, mess this up once and I'm outta here."

"I'll do whatever you want to do Sakura-chan!" Naruto smiled at her.

XXXXXX

'_This again?' _Kakashi stared at a group of Naruto's in front of him.

They all charged at him and he dodged their punches. Sakura charged at him from the back and tripped him. He grabbed her arms and legs immobilizing her and taking up both his hands. He kicked away the two Naruto's charging at him, pulling Sakura with his movements. Two more Naruto's came out from both sides of the clearing and charged at him again. He hit one of them and looked to his other side to see a Naruto reaching out to grab the bells. Kakashi dodged him, and aimed a kick at him. He blocked the attack and from the hit, a puff of smoke came out to reveal Sasuke.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto's voice came from above, jumping on his back and covering his eyes.

'_Dammit, I shouldn't have let my guard down.' _Kakashi could sense Sasuke and Naruto reaching for the bells and used Sakura to whack them all away.

They landed in a heap on the ground with Sakura on top. "Ow…" She rubbed her head.

"Well, it seems you realised that this exercise was about teamwork and not the bells. In this situation, we select those who can prioritize teamwork before themselves. An individual action that disrupts the teamwork will result in danger or even death for the team mates. But, since you were able to figure it out.. You pass!"

Naruto grinned, "Alright! One more step closer to becoming Hokage!"

Sakura turned towards Sasuke, "See Sasuke-kun! It worked!"

"Hn."

"The training ends here. The 7th group will start doing mission tomorrow! Since I didn't have to tie you to a post to teach you a lesson, I reckon you'll be able to go and get your own lunch. I have to go see the Hokage anyways. No one's ever passed before."

They watched as he whipped his book back out that he had oput away during their little battle and started reading. Sasuke and Naruto cringed, knowing what was inside it. 'Pervert..'

Sakura however, looked at him curiously. "Kakashi-sensei? What is that book about? I heard a man talking about it and he said it was very good, should I go buy one and read it myself?"

Naruto stuttered, "Sakura-chan, don't read it! It'll wreck your brain! He's just a little pervert!"

"Pervert?" Sakura stared at him oddly. "What's a pervert? Hm.. I thought my vocabulary was diverse.. What's the book about Naruto?"

He scratched his head. "Um well you see it's mostly about where a guy and a girl -"

Kakashi snapped the book shut and covered her ears. "Don't taint her innocence!"

"Naruto? Sorry I didn't get that since Kakashi-sensei covered my ears." _'Why'd he do that?'_

Their teacher cut in, "Sorry Sakura, but you really don't want to read this. It's em, how should I say this only for guys!"

She frowned. "That's abit sexist, but okay.."

Sasuke smirked in amusement. _'I know she's smart but to not know about this stuff? Heh, guess that explains why she doesn't like me. She has no clue about it. I wonder how she'll treat him if she ever finds out.' _

"Anyways, I expect you all want to celebrate passing so I'll see you later." Kakashi waved, and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Naruto danced around, "I did it! I'm a ninja, ninja, ninja. Hey, hey Sakura-chan, how about you and me go for some ramen." He looked around. "Sakura-chan?"

He turned and saw Sakura and Sasuke walking away already. "Hey! Where are all you guys going? Guys? Guys!"


End file.
